GOOD START, CRAZY END

The day started well yesterday with the Avon Marching Black and Gold along with staff members boarding a chartered flight to Los Angeles and grandson, daughter, son-in-law and his father boarding a commercial flight headed to the same destination via Chicago. All landed at LAX safely to begin a whirlwind red carpet treatment for the invited AMB&G to participate in the Rose Bowl Parade and all the sight-seeing they and their guests could cram into five days.

While they are gone, it is my job to gather their mail and since yesterday was their garbage day, I was to put the empty garbage cans out of sight back into the garage. No problem.

I drove over to their house not five minutes away, gathered the mail and rolled the two garbage cans up the driveway to be ready to roll into the garage once I got into the house to open the garage door. I walked to the front door and got out the key I was given a few years ago in case I needed access to the inside of their house for one reason or another.

No matter how hard I tried, the key didn’t work! I tried every key on my key ring and none of them would fit. I thought that this was no problem, I’d just go to my car and get out my emergency cell phone and call California and get the combo to the key pad for the garage. My cell phone was dead!

I got in my car (by this time getting pretty frustrated) and headed home to use the phone in the house to call daughter. When I reached her, I asked if they had changed the lock on their front door and she finally remembered that they had and gave me the combo to the garage door pad.

I went back to their house, punched in the code and opened the garage door, put the mail inside the house and rolled the cans inside the garage and stopped dead in my tracks. Since the front door lock was a dead bolt and I had no key, how in the hell was I going to get back out through the garage with no visible “close door” key on the outside keypad?

Not a problem, I thought. I’ll just shut it from the inside, make a mad dash for the door, bend down and step over the electric eye beam and viola, I will be outside and the door will close.

I’m here to tell you that it is not an easy feat for a 70-year-old to outrun a garage door! After no less than three tries, out of breath and heart pounding in my chest, I made it!

The sad ending to this whole episode is the fact that I didn’t think of this until after all was said and done and I was back home for the final time. Son-in-law’s car was in the garage and I could have retrieved his garage door opener (if the car was unlocked) and used it to close the garage door.

Suffice to say, assuming that his car is locked, the rest of the mail will be gathered and taken back to my house until their return. No more garage door marathons for this old goat!

WILL WONDERS EVER CEASE?

Well, we ordered Peaches some special formula dry food and it came in yesterday. The smallest bag I could get was 6.6 pounds which was a little risky considering her penchant for avoiding dry food at all cost unless it is a treat biscuit, of course.

So, with fingers crossed, I poured 2/3 of a cup in a bowl this morning (she hates eating out of a bowl; another story) and she took to it like I take to Ben & Jerry’s Mud Pie ice cream!

I was so shocked, I almost cried again the way I cried out of sheer delight when she ate her canned dog food for the first time after her surgery.

My little white puff of fluff never ceases to amaze me. Just about the time I say she will, she won’t and when I say she won’t, she does!

Will wonders ever cease?

WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY DOG?

It has been a month since Peaches had her surgery to remove a mass of bladder stones and today was the day that I was to take her urine sample to the vet to see if we were still on the road to recovery.

Her urinalysis showed a few white blood cells and a little debris but nothing to be concerned about. There were also no signs of crystals or stones! She is to stay on the special canned food as prescribed with the addition of a little prescription dry food as a supplement.

I know she certainly looks like a different dog and acts like a happy puppy even though she turned seven years old this past Saturday. She has even been jumping up on my lap which she has not done since she was a puppy to get her fill of lap dog love. Her fur is puppy soft and her skin is pink again.

I only had one question for the vet today:

What did you do with my dog? I knew I loved Peaches and she was special, but this dog that I brought home from the clinic a month ago is even more special and I’m closer to her than ever!

I am grateful to the Avon Veterinary Clinic and to Brian Mehringer, DVM for his loving care of my little companion.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

I have been wanting to go to J. C. Penney in Plainfield since they sell gobs of Alfred Dunner. I decided to go yesterday since the weather was a little above freezing and the rest of the weekend would be way below freezing and very busy traffic-wise so I piled into my little hearse and went.

I found three pair of chords and got them at a bargain in the size I usually wear. I was in a hurry to get home so I didn’t take the time to try them on.

After I got home, dogged tired after also stopping at the grocery on my way back, I thought I’d take a moment before my nap to try on one pair of pants just to make sure they fit.

OMG! What was I thinking? They were three inches too long and a “little” snug. Crap, now I am going to have to go back to JCP today and get one size up and proportioned “short” instead of medium since I wanted to wear the black ones tomorrow night to my grandson’s concert at the Arts Garden.

I had forgotten that I had shrunk about an inch and a half in height and had gained a little weight (yeah, right) since I last purchased any chords (or any other pants for that matter).

So, just ignoring that I’m no longer 50 doesn’t erase the fact that over the past 20 years or so I have become short and fat! Oy vey!

MOODY MONDAY

Where do I begin?

First, it’s cold and raining. I looked at the radar and there’s nothing in sight but green, green and more green. And that ain’t grass, either!

I had to change pharmacies due to a contract pull-out by Walgreens from Express Scripts which is the provider for Anthem drug plans. Anthem is my secondary insurance carrier as a supplement to Medicare. I had Dr. T transfer all of my scripts from Walgreens to Walmart and we (Walmart’s pharmacy and I) are still in the “getting to know you” phase as evidenced by the fact that I have two separate prescriptions for the same drug (different dosages) which I requested a refill for both and one was ignored. So, I re-ordered it. Hope it is straightened out by tomorrow since that’s when I plan to pick them up.

Erin and I are still hot and heavy playing “Words With Friends” which is a Facebook application. She is HOT and I am HEAVY. I did manage to win one game, though. I just now had to dock the iPad for a recharge so I’ll be ready to play later on.

Since it is raining, I refuse to take Peaches outside to potty and she refuses to use her litter box. Right now, we are at a stand-off. She is getting to be a real smart ass now that she’s feeling well and frisky. I have never seen a dog who could hold her urine (when she wants to) for as long as she does. That could be from years of practice because of the stones. We’ll see just who wins this battle!

Well, it’s 6:30 and time to feed Peaches as well as myself. She’s still liking her canned prescription dog food and eats it without batting an eye. As for me, I’d love to have a steak and baked potato but am too lazy to get in the car and go out in the cold and rain to the store so guess I’ll have a big chicken pot pie instead. Oh, yum, yum.

Said it before and I’ll say it again: AH HATES WINTER!!